The Pickaninny's Paradise/ music by Nat. Osborne; words by Sam Ehrlich

Lyrics:First verseWhat's the matter Honey there's a tear in your eye, Do white folks say you don't know hwere you go when you die? come to your mammy dear, Now don't you fear I will tell where colored children go when they leave here There's a happy land above the sky so blue And listen child what's waiting for you. ChorusYou lay your black kinky head in a bed on a pillow of white When you sleep tight the angels watch over you ev’ry night The griddle cakes pop from the ground With sweet molasses all around Old Uncle Joe is playing tunes upon his old banjo The streets are all paved with gold I am told ev’ry bird in the skies has diamond eyes now ain’t that nice so very nice Ev’ry little kinky headed girl and boy has the cutest silver pony for a toy In the place they call the Pickaninnies Paradise. You lay your black kinky head in a bed on a pillow of white When you sleep tight the angels watch over you ev’ry night The griddle cakes pop from the ground With sweet molasses all around Old Uncle Joe is playing tunes upon his old banjo The streets are all paved with gold I am told ev’ry bird in the skies has diamond eyes now ain’t that nice so very nice Ev’ry little kinky headed girl and boy has the cutest silver pony for a toy In the place they call the Pickaninnies Paradise.
Second verseRun and play my Honey by the mulberry tree. Just stay right near the window where your mammy can see now don’t you feel so blue For I love you, and the white folks told me Honey, that they love you too If they speak about the skies up over head Just tell them dear what your mammy said.
(Chorus)

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The derogatory terms, images, and ideas that appear in some of this sheet music are not condoned by the University of Mississippi. They do represent the attitudes of a number of Americans at the times the songs were published. As such, it is hoped that the sheet music in this collection can aid students of music, history, and other disciplines to better understand popular American music and racial stereotypes from the 19th- and early 20th-centuries. Read the introduction for further information to use when contextualizing this item: http://130.74.92.141/cdm4/intro_harris.php